Like a Fire in the Sky
by Psicygni
Summary: "So you slept with a young, impressionable half-Vulcan, who you never thought you'd see again, and is now a decorated graduate, a superior officer, and even though you're not interested in a relationship with him, he rocked your world in a way that you can't forget," Gaila said carefully. "Basically." "That's great. You and I are going to be best friends with a story like that."
1. Prologue

Her summer had been a series of farewells, ever since the Starfleet recruiter had come in her pressed black uniform, a padd offered in front of her like a ticket to her future. Nyota had been reveling in her graduation from the Institute for Advanced Mathematics, her diploma recently framed and a stack of job offers on her parent's kitchen table when she heard the door chime. Starfleet had belonged to her brother, and to a handful of other acquaintances, so when the officer asked to speak to her, it was the first time that the dream of stars had begun to become her own.

Language, and the mathematics of the rhythms and music behind it, had driven her through an elite preparatory school and secured high honors for her in college. She had traveled, and studied abroad, but her experience with Kamau's career path was mostly warp engine sketches hung up in his room and his talk about weapons and firefights in the Neutral Zone.

"Diplomatic Corps," was her easy answer when the recruiter asked after her plans, echoing the dreams of her parents, and the dreams they held for her. The recruiter had then spun a very pretty picture of the other side of Starfleet, the image of Nyota seeing planets she hadn't heard of yet, and being the first to learn about new cultures, to listen to new languages.

"You'd be living and working with species you have no contact with now, and the people you meet will change your life. You will be challenged, and exhausted, and tested in ways that you cannot now fathom, and the intellectual stimulation and personal and professional rewards far exceed that of other work," the woman had said. "Starfleet takes the best of each generation of students from across the Federation. We want you at Starfleet because you are the best, and your record indicates that you want to work with the best. This is not an easy path, but I don't think that's what you want."

Nyota said no three times before she called the recruiter back and said yes. When she told her parents, the stars shone in her eyes and her father had cried, hugging her to him before stepping back, his hands on her shoulders. "You will excel at whatever you attempt," he said. Her mother had pressed her lips together and said nothing, but the morning Nyota picked up her bag and stepped out of her parent's home, she had pressed their hands together. "Learning about other cultures shows us a reflection of our own," she had said and the words echoed a memory that Nyota pushed down, far away where she kept such things. "We have traveled with you since you were young, and met many people and seen many places. It is your own journey now you must take. Do not forget your home."

Nyota did not cry. She had said other goodbyes and the brush of her mother's worn hand ached in her throat as she blinked, her eyes hot. She had sat with her grandmother and grandfather the day before in their cool living room, speaking in a language she would soon grow to miss. She and her sister had shared a pint of ice cream, divided their clothes and jewelry, and fallen asleep in the same bed, just as they had before Nyota left for college. "Meet some space cowboy for me," Makena had whispered. "Blonde, blue-eyed, bad news that Mom and Dad wouldn't want you to bring home." The new ring on her left hand had glinted and Nyota had smiled. "I'm going to be an old married woman. I need some stories."

Her brother waited at the door to the flitter, his red shirt with its silver Lieutenant Commander stripes a sharp contrast to the green of her parent's front yard. Nyota did not cry, but her brother squeezed her hand as they drove away.

"Oh, Ny," Kamau said, squeezing her to him when they arrived at the transport station. "This is just the beginning. You're on an adventure now. You'll meet so many people!" He kissed her cheek as her stomach clenched at the thought. He backed up and handed over her bag. "See you in the stars." He smiled at her, and she wanted to walk forward to him again, but her stiff red uniform didn't seem to let her move. He climbed back in his flitter, giving her the small wave he had given when he had left for the Academy, and he would give his parents when he boarded the _USS Eisenhower_ in three days.

He was her last goodbye, and she swallowed and put her bag on her shoulder. Five uniforms, two pairs of boots, underwear, socks, and a sundress that Makena had promised was imperative to Nyota's social life. When she got to the Academy, the sun only rising there as it set over her family's house in Mombasa, she would find a _mandazi_ from her grandmother and her mother's _matoke. _ It would be the first meal she shared with her roommate, and her last taste of home for months.


	2. Chapter 1

"I do not want to have sex with you," Nyota's roommate said when she opened the door, stepping over the threshold with her hand tight around the strap of her bag.

"Um, ok. I don't want to have sex with you either," Nyota said politely. She made herself look away before she could stare. She hadn't seen an Orion in years and couldn't help but be fascinated.

"Really? I was just saying that. I didn't mean it." The other woman sat down heavily on one of the bunks and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, um, we're roommates. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to start off on the wrong foot."

Her roommate lifted her feet up and held each one in front of her face in turn, squinting suspiciously. "Which one?"

"It's an expression," Nyota said carefully, placing her bag on the other bunk and sitting on the edge. "It means that it's not a good way to begin our relationship."

"Oh. You're sure you don't want to have sex with me?"

"Yes. I don't mean any offense," she added quickly, unsure of how Orions took these things.

"I've never met anyone who doesn't want to have sex with me, so I'm sure you'll change your mind at some point," she said pleasantly. "But thank you for turning me down. It feels good. I thought I'd take this bed, since I just slept with Cadet Johnson on it. Slept with? Is that the correct idiomatic use? My dictionary isn't very helpful, since we didn't sleep. My name is Gaila, by the way."

Nyota took a deep breath and unzipped her bag, the smell of home emanating from her clothes.

"Maybe we should talk about some ground rules," she said and Gaila curiously looked at the floor. "Some standards of behavior we can agree on, I mean."

"Ok," Gaila said cheerfully. "Can I watch you unpack before we write regulations on the carpet? I don't own any belongings, I'm curious what cadets with homes, and families bring."

* * *

"It's like a donut," Nyota said, handing over half of the _mandazi_.

"It's not circular. And the center is not arbitrarily missing." Gaila ate it carefully and nodded. "That was good."

Nyota opened the _matoke_, the familiar scent washing over her like her mother's hug. "And this- stop!" She pulled the container back as Gaila dipped two fingers into the spicy plantains.

Gaila smacked her lips for a moment after tasting it and shrugged. "Not quite as good. And my hands are clean. I washed them after I put them in Cadet Snevet's-"

"Stop, please." Nyota got up and grabbed silverware from the drawer in the dorm's small kitchen. "Use this."

Gaila held the spoon up in front of her, before pouring a bit of water in it and taking a small sip. "Like this? Yes?"

Nyota reached out and gently adjusted her grip, then demonstrated eating some _matoke_ off of it.

"Spoon," Gaila said around a large bite of her own. "Companion of knife and fork. Used by humans to consume food. Completely pointless."

"How do you eat soup without one? Or ice cream?"

Gaila looked at her, confused for a moment. "We ate ration bars."

Nyota put her own spoon down. "Your whole life?"

"Yes. When I got to Earth, they gave me a sandwich. It was vile. This is good, though. Mushy. Yum. Are all Terran food like this?"

"No, there's a wide variety. I'll take you to get ice cream. And soup. And there's a lot of other choices from other planets as well, in the mess hall."

"I don't want to eat in a dirty hall, you know? Everything else is so clean around here."

"No, it's-" Nyota thought about how to explain, then figured it would probably just be easier to take Gaila there. She put away the last of the _matoke_ and they walked across the campus together. Gaila greeted no less that eight cadets and two instructors by name.

"We've only been here a day! How do you know everyone already?"

"I have lots of practice with names and faces. Look at them. They're cute. Think they want to get messy in the hall with us?" Gaila perked up a bit when they entered. "Oh, it is clean!"

"You haven't been here yet?"

"I still have ration bars. They're under my bed, though I have been sharing them with some insect life. My interspecies counselor said that sharing is important on Earth. It feels nice."

Nyota paused in scooping a bowl of ice cream and just looked at Gaila.

"That's cold!" Gaila stuck her finger with a blob of vanilla on it into her mouth and then smiled. "And sweet!"

"Here, try some of this. _Yon-savas_, it's a fruit from Vulcan. And this is _kaasa_, though they made it into a syrup and it's normally juice. I like both of them on vanilla."

"I'm glad they don't have Orion food here," Gaila said, sitting across from Nyota with a decidedly larger bowl of ice cream than hers. "How do you know so much? Your family must have been very rich to afford so many different kinds of food."

"No, uh," Nyota took a small bite. "We traveled a lot."

"I bet you met lots of interesting people," Gaila said.

"Yes, it was great. One of the reasons I came to Starfleet, actually. Some of the people I met work here, actually. And my brother is serving on the _Eisenhower_." Nyota looked across the mess hall at table of officers, their gold, blue and red shirts standing out against the cadet uniforms. As she had since she arrived, she searched them over, focusing on a science officer with dark hair. But no, she thought, too short and too human.

"I don't have any brothers," Gaila said, interrupting her thoughts. "I have 46 sisters, though."

"Wow. I have one."

"That must be lonely." Gaila reached over and squeezed her hand. "I'm so sorry. What happened to the rest?"

"Nothing. My parents just had us three."

"Oh." Gaila put most of a scoop of ice cream in her mouth and considered Nyota carefully before swallowing. "No wonder you had so much food. I'm going to try all of it while I'm here. Cadet Orleen suggested whipped cream. Have you had it before? Can ice cream be substituted?"

Nyota eyed her own bowl before pushing it towards Gaila. "Sort of. Seems too cold, though. Here, you can have mine, too."

* * *

Kamau had been tight lipped about the first few weeks of the Academy. "It's fun!" he had said when she received her acceptance letter. "It's hellish," he confided over a bottle of beer a few weeks later. "It's the time when you'll make your best friends," had been his final promise, they day before she left.

It was all three of those, Nyota decided, her feet aching in her running shoes and sweat dripping off her nose.

"Just don't feel it," Gaila said with a perky smile. Her curls bounced around her face as they rounded the track. Nyota had lost count of the laps she had completed, though the Lieutenant with the clipboard and stopwatch showed no indication of letting them stop.

"I can't just not feel it," Nyota panted. She was athletic, damn it, and in good shape. Kamau had conveniently left out the fact that the recommended fitness guidelines were apparently a joke.

"Sure you can. I can," Gaila said, speeding up and turning to run backwards so she could talk to Nyota more easily. She eyed Nyota's sweaty t-shirt, then turned to look at the other cadets running alongside them. "I would recommend sweating less, as well. It's unbecoming on humans. I don't know why you all insist on it."

"I can't not sweat." Nyota wiped her face on her sleeve and took a quick look at Cadet Torelli and Cadet Iverson on the other side of Gaila. It wouldn't do to make a poor impression, she thought, regardless of the situation. A number of officers were sharing the track with them, mostly medical and science and Nyota had looked carefully at them in their blue shirts on her previous lap. She didn't know who was watching and prided herself on her appearance, no matter how often she proved herself with her mind. "How-?"

"Just control it," Gaila said, touching her stomach below her navel, and a hand to the small of her back. "Of course."

"So you can just not feel it?" Nyota pulled out her small bottle of water from her waist band and took the last sip from it.

"Of course I can feel and not feel what I wish. It's my body, isn't it?" Gaila looked incredulous. "It's a really important skill to cultivate, so you can not feel when-" Nyota was sure she was echoing Gaila's look of confusion. The other woman's face fell slightly and she jogged in silence for a moment. "I guess you wouldn't know about that," Gaila said and sped up.

She lapped Nyota only moments later and handed over her still full water bottle. "Only a couple more," she said, suddenly cheerful again. "I told the Lieutenant that when we stopped I had a question for him about the Academy's physical fitness requirements and asked if I could get some personal training."

"That seems very suspect," Nyota said, opening Gaila's water and drinking deeply. "But thank you."

* * *

"Academic quad?"

"No."

"Professor's offices?"

"No."

"Lecture halls?"

"No."

"Shuttlecrafts?"

"If they're empty."

"Starfleet should advertise its lack of interesting and available places to have sex," Gaila griped.

"There's more here than just that," Nyota said, unpacking a set of styluses and arranging them on her desk. She saw Gaila looking at them and held out a purple one.

Gaila took it, examining it closely, before finally smiling.

"Are these often used as sex toys?"

"No! That sounds really uncomfortable."

"Oh." Gaila traced her fingers over it. "Can I use it for my classes and homework, then? Even though that's boring?"

"Yes. Please use it for that."

"You can borrow my vibrators," Gaila said. "I got my monthly allowance from the Academy and picked up some new ones. I had to leave the rest behind when I left the clan, and I miss them. I had this one-"

"Thank you," Nyota said quickly. "That's very kind."

"Sharing is caring," Gaila said solemnly.

* * *

"Why are you taking apart our lock?" Nyota pulled off her running shoes in the hall, since apparently she wasn't getting in her room any time soon.

"You shouldn't work out so much. Men like curves."

"Thanks for the tip, but I don't want to watch Lauper run past me on a fitness test again. That was humiliating." Nyota took her socks off too, for good measure. "What are you doing."

"Coding our door for our bioprints. The security on these access codes are a joke and I don't want anyone taking my stuff. I like my stuff, now that I have it, and I like yours too. Thanks for the socks, by the way."

"Gaila!"

"Touch here." Gaila pressed her own hand against a new sensor she had installed, then motioned for Nyota to copy her.

"How do you know how to do that?"

"I didn't get into Starfleet because I had sex with the admissions counselor," Gaila said, sounding affronted. "I mean, I did have sex with her, but only afterwards."

"I didn't mean to imply that," Nyota said. "I thought you were interested in warp technology, not computers."

"Eh," Gaila said. "That's what happens when you're busy listing where I can't have sex."

"You asked!"

Gaila smiled and snapped the lock back together with surprising speed. "I'm deciding between Computer Sciences and Warp Technology. Maybe both. If I can't do it in the Assembly Hall, and the mess hall is off limits, I'll have much more free time in my hands."

"On your hands. Don't ever let me underestimate you. Also, please take off my socks."

* * *

"Fuck," Nyota said, dodging back through the door and bumping into Gaila. This was going to happen at some point, and Nyota just wished it hadn't been so soon. "Fuck."

"Verb. To have sexual intercourse. Used alone or as a noun in various phrases to express anger, annoyance, contempt, impatience, or surprise, or slightly for emphasis." Gaila looked up from the Standard dictionary Uhura had loaded onto her padd. "I like that word. Fuck."

"It's also a curse word, so don't go throwing it around," Nyota said, standing with her back against the wall and willing herself to muster some of the courage that had seen her through many more trying situations. Her face felt warm and when she pressed her hands against the wall behind her, she swore she could feel the scrape of rocks and the smooth skin of hot shoulders. Kamau had said the Academy was huge, and he rarely saw many of the other cadets, much less other members of Starfleet who generally worked elsewhere. She had taken him at his words and the odds of running into-

"Hey," Gaila said, glancing at Nyota, then out the door at the knot of officers. "Why are you throwing around a curse word?"

"I just…" Nyota pushed her back towards the stairs they had just come down. She felt a slow twisting in her stomach she chose to believe was hunger. "I don't want to go out that way. Have you eaten yet? Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

She wasn't, but she had just spotted a suspiciously tall, lean officer standing outside of Muir Hall and couldn't… just couldn't go that way. She dragged Gaila to the mess hall and they swiped their cards, Gaila chatting the whole way.

"Fuck around, fuck up, fuck someone over, fuck me, fuck off, fuck up, fuckable, fucked, fucker, fuckhead, fucking, fuckwit. I'm not sure all of these make sense," Gaila said to the surprised Andorian serving pizza. Nyota piled her plate with salad and gave the scandalized man a small, apologetic smile. Gaila grabbed a popsicle, a bowl of sprinkles, and a large dollop of sour cream, mashing it into a multi-colored soup as they sat down.

"What is that?" Gaila asked, pointing at Nyota's salad. She reached out, touched the dressing, and shifted through the lettuce, picking up a couple of pieces and turning them over. "I don't think that's edible."

"It's salad. It's healthy." Nyota pulled her plate out of Gaila's range and speared a tomato.

"It's so green!" Gaila said, reaching over again and picking up cucumber. "Yuck!" She spit it onto the table, half chewed. Nyota grabbed a napkin and handed it to her with a pointed look.

"Gaila, you're green."

"So?" She pointed at Nyota's salad with an offended finger. "I would still not eat that. Fucking gross."

"That was good!" Nyota nodded. "You're a quick study."

They ate in silence for a few moments, Nyota's brain churning so loud she was surprised Gaila couldn't hear it.

"Why didn't you want to walk across the quad? My interspecies advisor said that humans avoid unpleasant situations. Though, you seem to be eating that 'salad', so that can't be true." Maybe Gaila could hear her thoughts after all, Nyota thought, and forced herself to swallow.

"It was nothing. I was hungry and just realized that if I didn't eat now I wouldn't have time since I want to go to the Xenolinguistics Club introductory meeting tonight."

Gaila put down her spoon and fixed Nyota with a look. "When we created our rules and pressed our palms together in a human ritualistic ceremony-"

"We shook hands, Gaila."

"- I thought we were prepared to be friends. You gave me a stylus." Gaila looked unaccountably sad, and pulled her bowl towards herself, curling around it. She looked more miserable than when Nyota had proposed neither of them have sex in the room.

"We are friends. Or at least heading there," Nyota said, unsure of what she had done and how to rectify the situation.

"I told you about Cadet Johnson. And Cadet Kias'Hu. And Cadet Bjyorak. And Lieutenant Commander-"

"Ill advised, by the way."

"But I was honest with you and you weren't hungry, you just didn't want to walk that way. I can smell it."

"Smell it? Is that an idiom you're trying out?"

"No," Gaila said, looking confused as well as hurt. "I can smell it. Like how you're excited about selecting courses, which is nuts, believe me, or that you totally think Cadet Torelli is hot."

"I do not!"

"Don't lie!" Gaila looked close to tears. "You shouldn't do that."

Nyota took a deep breath and put down her fork. "You can smell all that," she said, looking at Gaila, who nodded. "Can all Orions?"

"Yes, of course."

"You must have a very honest society," Nyota said. "If you can tell all those things about another person."

"No."

"Uh, ok. I guess, maybe, it's hard for humans to always be honest with themselves. And we can't sense it as easily in each other."

"That seems confusing," Gaila said, but picked up her spoon again and took a large bite. "No wonder Cadet Bjyorak didn't know he wanted to try handcuffs until we did."

"Maybe we should talk about that," Nyota said carefully, clearly imagining a situation where she was bailing Gaila out of the dean's office for sexual infractions. "But I didn't mean to lie and I didn't mean to cause you any offense. I think it might take a while to learn each other's cultures."

"So you do find Torelli attractive," Gaila said.

"Yes, I suppose I do." Nyota thought of his dark eyes and broad shoulders, but made herself stop when Gaila took a distinct sniff.

"He's not that good in bed, I should warn you," she said, sprinkling salt and pepper over her meal. "Not very inventive."

"Um, ok. I don't think I was going to sleep with him anyway, but thanks for letting me know."

"Well now if you do, you'll be prepared." Gaila nodded, as if she had just done Nyota a favor.

"Thanks?" Nyota said. She was unsure of if she appreciated the advice, but glad that Gaila didn't seem mad anymore.

"So what about walking across the quad?" Gaila scraped the last of her food out of the bowl and licked her spoon in a way that made the Andorian food server's antennae stand up.

Oh. That. Nyota weighed that moment and the cold pit of dread in her stomach, against the continued wrath of a roommate with no dearth of sexual partners to mess up her sheets.

"I don't really want to talk about it," she hedged and Gaila shook her head.

"I also told you about Cadet Loury and his-"

"Ok, ok." Nyota took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "But don't tell anyone."

"I will mimic a representation of a Christian religious symbol over my equivalent of a human vascular muscle," Gaila said seriously. "Alternatively, I will say an oath as we link the smallest fingers of our dominant hands."

"No, that's ok," Nyota said quickly. She gave up on her salad and pushed the plate away. "My father is in the Diplomatic Corps," she started, since the beginning was a good place for any story, and this one was no exception. "And we traveled a lot when I was younger, and I continued to go with them until I started college a few years ago. That's how I got interested in xenolinguistics, meeting different people and seeing different planets. And a couple years ago-" Nyota paused and pushed herself to be honest. "Three years ago, actually, I was with my family, and there was this guy-"

"Let me guess, you had sex with someone you shouldn't have," Gaila said, examining the pepper grinder. "And you're human and you regret it."

"I- yes. How did you know?"

"Most humans are confused about their sexuality. It seems like a complicated topic for you all." Gaila easily popped the top off the grinder and looked at the small black flecks inside. She didn't seem terribly impressed, though she was at least listening. "But it shouldn't be that big a deal, should it?"

"It's a big deal to me. He's an officer now, and I don't want it to affect my career. I don't know what it's like where you're from, but it's complicated being a female subordinate who had a sexual relationship with a superior officer."

"Hmmm," Gaila said, eyeing Nyota again. She apparently had more important questions than hierarchical sexual power, since the next words out of her mouth were, "was it good?"

Nyota wanted to cover her face. "Yes."

"And he's at Starfleet?"

"Yes. Graduated just last year, top of his class, I heard."

"He's human? I'm still learning about humans, but some of them can be fun, despite confusing cultural norms. I bet you've only done it with humans. Which is boring."

"Um, yes."

"_It is with the exchange of honesty that we can begin the exchange of friendship_," Gaila said in Orion and Nyota was pleased she could understand it.

"He's not fully human," Nyota said slowly. "He's half Vulcan."

"Oh," Gaila said. "Oh. Kinky. They mind-meld during sex, right? Isn't that one of the big secrets about them no one's supposed to know? That they're excellent lays and we should all be so lucky?" Gaila finally looked interested and Nyota felt herself nodding. "I did it with a Betazoid once, but man, if that had gone both ways…" Gaila pierced Nyota with a look. "Probably knocked the shoes off of any previous experience."

"Socks," Nyota corrected automatically. "And, um, it was my first time, more or less. More. And his too. With a human. So no real comparison."

"And since then?"

"No real comparison," Nyota said softly, closing her eyes against the memory. "Despite repeated efforts to the contrary."

"And you're not going to do it again since humans have significant sexual hang-ups regarding males in superior rolls and subordinate females, despite that being excellent roll playing material that many engage in." Nyota nodded. "And I'm sure you're not one to sleep around outside of a relationship, or you would have taken the invitation from myself and Cadet Pearilla much better." Nyota nodded again and opened her eyes to see Gaila thoughtfully running her finger through some pepper she had poured into her other hand.

"So, you had sex with a young, virginal, impressionable half-Vulcan, who mind-melded with you, probably gave you a zillion orgasms, who you never thought you'd see again, and is now a decorated graduate, a superior officer, and even though you're not interested in a romantic relationship with him, he rocked your world in a way that you can't forget," Gaila said carefully, checking to make sure she had gotten the facts straight.

"Basically."

Gaila sat back in her chair and looked triumphant. She put the handful of pepper in her mouth and swallowed. "Fuck," she said. "That's great. I want to hear all about it. You and I are going to be best friends with a story like that."


	3. Chapter 2

**So obviously this is not your typical origin story for Spock and Uhura. I've read so many wonderful ones, that sometimes I feel like the fandom builds this great story for them with the only drawback being that they're all very similar. Which is great, since the writing is great, and all the other stories are probably realistically how it happened. I've written a ton of this story already, then almost didn't publish it, since it seemed to stray so far from fandom expectations. Then I thought, whatever, if readers don't like it, they won't read it and I put it up anyway. **

**The whole reason I thought this up in the first place was that I still couldn't reconcile Spock sleeping with a student and then while I was trying to explain that to myself, I was like, of course! They've known each other for ever and Spock implicitly feels differently about her and around her because she knows him so well before the Academy. And for her part, she implicitly understands him because she understands his family. Also, true love, of course.**

* * *

"Cadet Uhura," Spock said. "I had thought it your intention to serve in the Diplomatic Corps." She had seen him walking across the quad, his tall form cutting through crowds of cadets, but she had squared her shoulders and continued on her way to the linguistics building. Despite being reconciled to meeting him, the suddenness with which he appeared next to her on the steps made her start. "You are meeting with your academic advisor?"

It wasn't really a question, since she was sure he remembered every moment of his own orientation week, and surely he knew that's why she was here. He opened the door for her and motioned her in ahead of him.

"Yes, um, Professor Uley," Nyota said, her back straight. She smiled at him, hoping it was one of fond greeting, before wondering if that wasn't the best approach.

He simply nodded and motioned to a staircase to her left. "Office 234."

"Yes, of course," she said, holding up her padd with the appointment listed.

"Of course," he echoed and tucked his hands behind his back. She was uncertain whether it was a dismissal or he was simply waiting for her to speak. She couldn't imagine walking away now, three years of distance hanging between them, any more than she could imagine striking up a friendly conversation as other cadets and a few instructors walked through the lobby around them.

"Did you-"

"I haven't-"

They both paused and Nyota realized she didn't know what she had been going to say. "I hadn't planned on Starfleet," she finally blurted, her brain seizing on his initial comment in her haste to break the silence.

"You were recruited."

"Yes, sir," Nyota said, since it seemed better than asking if he had looked her up.

"I had dinner with your brother at the beginning of his shore leave. He informed me you would be a member of the incoming class and of Starfleet's recognition of your linguistic ability."

"Oh. He didn't mention that to me." She looked down at the padd in her hand. "I'm studying High Romulan this semester." Her voice sounded strained to her ears.

"A fine choice, considering your proficiency in Vulcan."

She remembered a few things she had said to him in Vulcan and quickly looked away.

"Yes, thank you. I'm looking forward to the beginning of classes."

"Indeed." He tipped his head towards his own padd. "You must excuse me. I'm testing a new program for universal translators for my assignment on the _USS Lexington_." She looked at him carefully and thought maybe he was taller, or maybe he was just standing up straighter than he ever had before.

"Oh, that's great. I didn't realize you had received a posting so soon. Congratulations."

"Thank you," he said solemnly. "We are leaving Spacedock imminently, so I will wish well on your time at the Academy."

"Thanks," she said. "Good luck out there."

"Luck is illogical, and therefore wishing me luck is unnecessary," he said and she couldn't help but smile. He gave her a brief nod before stepping towards the acoustic engineering offices, annexed in the linguistics building. "Cadet."

"Lieutenant." She watched him walk away and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. The _Lexington_. He'd be gone for months, if not for years, if her brother's deployments were any indications.

She turned towards Professor Uley's office with a lighter step.

* * *

Nyota dropped her bag on the floor between their bunks as Gaila looked up from her padd. A diagram of a warp coil was on her desk, Gaila's green fingers tracing it like Nyota would a new pair of Rigellian boots.

"Are you upset?" Gaila asked, taking a deep sniff.

"No, I'm…" Nyota wasn't sure what she was. "I saw Lieutenant Spock and talked to him, and now that's over. We can all move on."

"Good. I want to introduce to you Cadet Barrett. Not so different from Torelli, but I haven't even slept with him yet!" Gaila looked at her seriously. "I can, though. Just say the word."

"No thank you," Nyota said, still thinking about Spock.

"How'd it go with the Lieutenant? I saw Loury this morning, and he did not want to speak to me. You would think, after I had my hand in his-"

"It was just so surreal to see him again and I was trying not to say anything stupid the whole time." Nyota said quickly. She related the encounter as she hung up her jacket and put away her bag.

"Reuniting with past sexual partners can be emotionally taxing for humans," Gaila mused, tapping her chin with her fingers.

"Well, yes. Though not for him. Or maybe not for him. But it can be awkward not to know where you stand with someone you've been so close to. Three years is a long time and I've changed a lot. I mean, last time I saw him I propositioned him. And the times before that, I was a child, basically. This time, I was trying to figure out how to fit in a morning run with my class schedule." Nyota pulled out her hair tie and thought back to their conversation. "He's changed a lot too, I think."

"I bet awkward reunion sex is even better than awkward first time sex. You know? It's like you've already broken in the Equus ferus-"

"Horse-"

"-and you get to enjoy the ride."

Nyota threw her pillow at her and it bounced off Gaila's shocked face.

"Sorry!" she said, sure she had committed some inter-species conflict akin to being dishonest.

"I saw that on a holovid!" Gaila grabbed the pillow and threw it back. "We should be in our underwear!" Nyota just groaned and put her face in her hands.

"He's leaving tomorrow? The next day? So you talked to him briefly, and he's all 'Good morning, Cadet, I'm a sexually repressed Vulcan who's secretly a wild-cat between the sheets,' and you're all 'Good morning, Lieutenant. Glad to say that I'm also sexually repressed and you were the best lay of my life. Let's move on and just be colleagues since I like dissecting the Romulan subjunctive more than getting my rocks off,' and he's like, 'that's fine with me, Cadet, I was worried you might want to jump back in the sack and have kinky telepathic sex all afternoon, but I have to go program a bunch of computers I find sexier than you.' That's how it went, right?"

Nyota put the pillow over her face and laughed and laughed.

Gaila certainly thought she was unhinged, since she continued. "Humans are a bit crazy. I've never met another species that is so emotional about sex."

"Well," Nyota said, taking a breath to calm herself and sitting down on her bunk to pull off her boots. "I think it runs deep in Vulcans too. They don't go around sleeping with just anyone."

"He boned you," Gaila pointed out.

"Where are you getting this stuff? Also, we were friends. And he was mad at his father. And had just broken up with his bondmate. And was about to leave his home planet for the first time." She held her boot in her hand, staring into space. "Maybe I took a little bit of advantage of him," she said, thinking again about their encounter only hours previous.

"He was what, in his early twenties? You hardly compromised his virtue," Gaila said. "I bet he wanted it and didn't know how to ask. I bet he had been thinking about it for ages and was thinking about it today."

"He was so not. He was thinking about universal translators and I was stammering about Romulan."

"I want to smell him," Gaila said. "I bet he smells great."

"You probably shouldn't go around smelling officers. Also, I'm not sexually repressed."

"Sure." Gaila bounced on her bed and gave Nyota a knowing grin.

"I am not!"

"So you have sex at the foot of the bed sometimes?"

"Gaila!" Nyota threw the pillow at her again.

"Tell me about the Lieutenant and your wild sexual history, then."

"Only you can make a rank sound so dirty."

"Ensign. Commander." Gaila smiled. "Admiral."

"Oh, stop it. I'll spill the beans."

"Please don't. I have a neurotically neat roommate. She'd get upset."


	4. Chapter 3

Gaila sat crosslegged at the end of Nyota's bunk.

"I've never even told my sister," Nyota said, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap. "I promised I wouldn't, actually."

"So that makes you a horrible person," Gaila replied, happily settling in for the story. "Or, it shows that we change and that maybe you need to talk to someone about the fact that you hid in the lobby of a building rather than walk outside and greet him the other day. And that if you're going to work with him someday, you better get this off your chest so you stop saying stupid things that's going to make him want to sleep with you again."

Nyota had to think about it for a moment, but decided that she liked Gaila's brand of logic. And even the part of her that didn't, the part that remembered cool water and their promise, felt the words bubbling up, unbidden. "Ok," she said at last. "But don't tell."

* * *

"Don't tell."

His voice was so human, Nyota would think later, and at odds with his pointed ears and upswept brows. Her small hand had closed over the juice cup she had left behind, one that she wasn't supposed to be drinking out of unsupervised because it was glass and her last one had broken. It was Makena's fault it broke in the first place and Nyota had already turned her aural sensitivity into selected hearing when the situation necessitated it, and ignored her mother's insistence that she use plastic. Kamau didn't, and Spock didn't, and Makena laughed at her across the table at the Vulcan Embassy when her dishes were different than the others.

Spock was different too, she knew.

The green blood clotted in the washcloth he held against his lip and he used his other hand to smooth dirt off his school robes.

"I won't," she whispered, since she didn't yet have the words that she would have wished to say to him.

* * *

When she did have the words, on her family's second trip to Vulcan, Spock had lost much of that little human boy.

Nyota had grown to love the trips she took with her family, shivering on Andoria, meeting Tellarites, and Trills. Already she had begun to count out the syllables of alien speech on her fingers as she listened, standing behind her father's legs.

She had met an Orion once, a free Orion as her father had said, leaning down to look her in the eye. There was a difference and that night Nyota sneaked her brother's padd off his bedside table in their small, assigned quarters at the Interstellar Comparative Culture Conference and read everything she could find. The words she didn't know, she looked up, and by the time the double suns rose, turning their room pink and gold, she had mastered a few words of swirling Orion script. "Doodles," Nyota had said through a yawn when her parents found her notes. She liked that word and wasn't ready to share her newest language yet.

Kamau spent most of his time on those trips playing games on his padd, the tiny recorded voice shouting 'firing photon torpedos!' as animated explosions flared across the screen. Makena was, as a rule, bored. She typed long messages to friends back on Earth and sighed dramatically when their parents assigned her to look after Nyota.

Nyota never thought her cruel, not really, but Nyota loved the people they met and Makena rolled her eyes and compared them all to the home she missed.

"They're unnatural," Makena whispered at the dinner hosted by the Vulcans, shooting Sarek and his son a look. "Robots."

"They're just different," Nyota said, pushing her pigtails back over her shoulder and swinging her legs. She could almost touch the floor with her toe, if she shifted slightly.

She liked different. She wanted to be more different sometimes, since that would mean being less like Makena.

"Creepy."

"He can probably hear you, they have really good hearing,"

"Just like you. You're creepy too."

"Stop!"

Sarek looked at her then, across the function hall milling with ambassadors, members of the Diplomatic Corps, support staff, and other children like themselves, dragged along on their parent's work trips. He shook his head, just a little, as if he already knew that Nyota was thinking of the good shove she wanted to give her sister. Spock was staring at them and Sarek put his hand on his son's shoulder and steered him away.

Makena didn't see what Nyota did. Maybe Sarek wanted to give Makena a shove too, she thought, kicking the rung of her chair.

* * *

"I want to play!"

Kamau held the ball above her head, making Nyota futilely jump to try to reach it. She managed to cling to his arm for a second, even the lighter gravity on Aldebaran III no match for how short she was.

"You don't know how," Kamau grinned. "Go find Makena and play with dolls."

"That's so stupid!" Nyota jumped again and this time succeeded in touching the nubby side of the orange ball.

"You're so stupid."

Nyota had spent the morning reading Kamau's _Adventures of Altarian Space Pirates _comic and hadn't had to look up a single word. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Spock," Kamau called, bouncing the ball neatly around Nyota to the other boy. Nyota hadn't noticed him standing there, but there were only a handful of other children at the meeting and they had been told in no uncertain terms to not interrupt the grown ups. Spock had mostly avoided Nyota and Makena, and Nyota had seen him bent over a chess board the few times she had glimpsed him. Now, however, he stood running his hands curiously over the orange ball.

"The purpose of this game is to place this ball into the circular ring positioned on the wall?"

"Yep! No girls allowed."

"Misogynistic!" Nyota yelled at Kamau's back as her brother ran across the court, bouncing lightly in the low gravity.

Kamau's eyebrows shot up and he gaped at her. "What?"

"You're a misogynist!"

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not stupid. And I want to play."

Spock handed her the ball when she approached him. "Your sister is elucidating the fact that you saw her gender as a reason unfit to participate."

"Elucidate?"

"Don't misconstrue my adroitness."

"Walking, talking thesaurus," Kamau said, grabbing one of her pigtails. "Junior genius."

"Ow!" Nyota rubbed her head and glared at him. "Don't touch my hair!"

"Are you going to elucidate to mom? C'mon, junior genius, and you, Spock. I'll teach you how to play."

* * *

"_Kahs-wan_," Nyota said carefully. She had heard the word bandied around the halls of Spock's house in the week they were stuck there, waiting for the ion storm to pass and their transport back to Earth. The diplomatic quarters were full of other stranded travelers and the Uhura's had been invited to the Ambassador's house. Learning Vulcan was a welcome distraction from the sand and heat, and she practiced as I-Chaya snuggled deeper into her lap.

"_Tun-bosh_," Spock said from the doorway, pointing at the long fang next to her knee. "Be careful. I-Chaya does not like-"

"I know what _tun-bosh_ means," she said, frowning and running her hand through the _sehlat_'s fur. "I am careful. He likes me."

Spock raised an eyebrow. "Doubtful."

I-Chaya yawned and rolled over slightly so Nyota could bury her fingers in the soft fur on his belly. She glared at Spock.

"What does _kahs-wan_ mean? And what is _koon-ul_? And who is T'Pring? And what is a _mashya_?"

"You are quite inquisitive," Spock said.

"I don't talk as much as Makena does," Nyota said, hugging the _sehlat_. Not that Makena talked to her much, just spent hours on her padd. Or Kamau, since he had school work and didn't want to play Space Pirates with Nyota. Or their parents, busy as they were at the Embassy.

"No, you speak 34.6 percent more frequently."

"You didn't answer my questions. _Deshker_. Question." She said it in Vulcan twice more in her mind before repeating it in Adorian and Orion.

Spock tapped his leg, a clear signal to I-Chaya, who yawned again and pushed his ears into Nyota's hand for a scratch.

"I-Chaya. Come."

"If you don't tell me I'm going to look it up."

"A _mashya _is a type of vegetable," Spock said, walking over to grab the _sehlat_'s collar. "I-Chaya, now."

"Don't!" Nyota grabbed it back. "He's my friend!"

Her hand closed over Spock's, his skin hotter and drier than she expected.

_I-Chaya sleeping on the foot of his bed, listening to his parent's raised voices down the hall, the _sehlat_ greeting him after school and licking his face as he hugged him, since no one was around to tell him not to, then pushing the _sehlat_ away in case someone still saw. Having him sit on the other side of a chessboard so that it wouldn't seem as empty, Spock moving the pieces of both colors. Putting his face in his fur after Sarek reprimanded him for fighting at school. Throwing I-Chaya a stick as he had seen humans do with their dogs. The _sehlat's_ nose on Spock's hand when groups of children walked by, not turning to look at him, invite him along, Nyota brushing I-Chaya's fur and telling him he was a good boy in Trill and Tellarite and Standard_.

_He's mine_, Spock said clearly in her mind, a fierce wave of possessiveness making her grab her hand back.

She had seen, though, and she had heard his thoughts as a rush of words and imagines, lines of math and music strung out before her like bright talismans. _"Estuhl irak-nahan,"_ Nyota said carefully, repeating one of the words she had heard in his mind. Touch telepathy.

"_Tor-ri _v_ar-tor_," Spock whispered. He looked at the doorway, but no one was coming. "I apologize. I should not have-"

"I won't tell," she repeated back, echoing his Vuclan words in Standard.

Spock slowly released his grip on the _sehlat_'s collar and straightened. She looked at I-Chaya, blinking against the pricks in her eyes and the sudden loneliness of her thoughts. She touched the _sehlat_'s soft nose and hugged him closer. "He's my only friend here, too."

Spock looked at her for a long time before sitting cross-legged beside her on the cool floor. "What other words would you like to know?"

"All of them," she whispered. "I want to know them all."

* * *

The light from the monitor washed over the two boys and Kamau and Spock's fighters chased each other along the surface of Ganymede. Nyota held a couch cushion against her chest, her fingers digging into the soft fabric with excitement as she watched.

"Ha!" Kamau shouted, firing a blast of phasers at Spock, lowering his shields until a yellow warning light blinked.

Spock didn't hesitate, just rolled the joystick under his hand and his fighter climbed, twisting gracefully as his defenses recharged. He caught up to Kamau a moment later, locking on a photon torpedo while Kamau dipped and jimmied through a canyon, trying to shake him.

"Kamau," M'Umbha called from the kitchen. "You have five more minutes. We have to leave for soccer."

"Spock's just getting good!" Kamau said, his eyes glued to the screen. He dipped under an rock arch and a moment later, Spock flew above it, his proximity sensor engaged as he kept Kamau in range of his torpedo. "Can we play later tonight?"

"Ambassador Sarek and your father will be back from Paris by dinner," M'Umbha said, standing in the doorway now. "Spock can play with Nyota until then. You, mister, have practice."

"Nyota's horrible at this," Kamau said and she kicked his shoulder where he sat next to her on the floor. "She doesn't even know how to play."

"Be nice to your sister," her mom said, the admonition sounding rote. "And don't kick your brother." Nyota heard the faucet turn on and the gentle clink of dishes as her mother stepped back into the kitchen.

Spock finally chased Kamau out of the canyon and fired. Kamau's fighter lit up like a firework and Nyota kicked him again, for good measure.

"Stop. Twerp." Kamau grabbed the cushion from her and smacked her with it before she could raise her arms and wrestle it back.

"Kamau!" M'Umbha stood with her arms on her hips. "Now. Spock, keep an eye on Nyota. My comm number is on the fridge if you need anything. The field is right down the street, so you should be fine, and your mother will be back any minute."

Kamau rolled off her, leaving Nyota huddled in the corner of the couch and she heard him pick up his cleats and her mother grab her keys. The door shut behind them and she released her cushion, plopping down on the floor next to where Spock sat.

"He hurt you?" Spock was staring at her.

"It was just a pillow." She reached for Kamau's controller and started flicking through the menu. "I like this fighter. Much faster and more agile. Less thruster power when you're out of orbit, but most of the missions are within an atmosphere."

"I thought you did not know how to play."

Nyota rolled her eyes and pushed her hair back so she wouldn't be distracted.

"Is your sister returning?"

"She's at her stupid friend's house," Nyota said, flicking through the available courses.

She felt Spock look at her for a moment before picking up his own controller again.

"I have no experience with this simulation before today. There is a high likelihood that your skills exceed my own."

"_Tun-bosh_," Nyota said solemnly. "Be careful or I'll kick your butt."

* * *

"T'Pring is boring," Nyota said.

"You should not speak ill of others." They were sharing a tricorder that her father lent them at Nyota's insistence and had spent the morning climbing through the canyon behind the Embassy.

"I was merely stating a fact," she said, emulating his cadence as she scanned the dry creek bed. "She and Makena never want to do anything."

"_Aylak_ skin," Spock said, pointing behind a rock.

"Like a lizard!" Nyota ran the tricorder over it and tilted the screen so he could see.

Spock carefully shifted the rock, rolling it to the side and revealing a live _aylak_. It attempted to skitter away, but Spock grabbed it before it got far. It went still in his hand and Nyota reached out a finger to stroke its back. She avoided Spock's skin, still shy, the memory of touching him a swirl of I-Chaya's fur and Vulcan words in her mind.

They watched as the _aylak_ darted over Spock's wrist, jumped to his bent knee and landed on the creek bed, vanishing in a flash.

"It's over there," Nyota said, since she could hear it scrabbling under the rocks. Neither made any move to recapture it.

She heard the voices before the other children appeared at the edge of the canyon, their robes silhouetted against the sun.

"Do they play here too?" she asked Spock. He didn't turn his head to look, just stood stiffly staring down at where the _aylak_ had disappeared.

"Vulcan children do not play," he said.

"Oh." She dug her toe into the loose dust under their feet and continued to look at the other children. They didn't look away and neither did she. "Well, I'm glad your mom's human, then. Otherwise you'd be as boring as the rest of them." She squinted against the sunlight. "Maybe Makena is Vulcan."

"Your sister is irrational and illogical. She does not possess qualities valued in Vulcan culture."

"Don't speak ill of others," Nyota quipped and turned away from the children to smile at Spock. "Though that is certainly a fact." She handed the tricorder to him and nodded farther down the canyon. "Let's see what's around the bend," she suggested.

Spock's footsteps followed her readily.

* * *

"_Krei'la_," Nyota said, watching Lady Amanda's hands work against the dough. She had not been to Vulcan in some time and her diction was rusty, she was embarrassed to realize. "Biscuit. _Kreila. Kreyla_." Three, she thought, tapping her finger on the counter each time she spoke.

"_Krei'la_," Spock said from the table where he had eight padds spread out before him and a schematic of the Rigel System. "The other pronunciations are not used in Shi'Kahr."

"I know," Nyota said quickly. Spock was busier on this visit, and Nyota had been surprised to realize that she missed him, a little. "You're not my teacher. I was just saying them."

Lady Amanda smiled at them indulgently, and pulled a tray of the biscuits from the oven. She put one on a plate for Nyota, and one for Spock. "Here, your mother brought some honey from Earth," she said, opening the small container. "It's too sweet for Vulcans, so we can share it."

Spock's hand twitched back from the honey, a movement so small that Lady Amanda didn't see it as she turned back to the oven, but Nyota was already an expert at noticing. It helped when replacing her sister's makeup in the correct order so she would never know Nyota used it, or when listening to her brother's hushed comm conversations with Saskia, which no one was supposed to know about and Nyota did.

Nyota ate her biscuit slathered with honey and Spock ate his plain. He looked at her plate once and Nyota noticed that too.

* * *

"I'm going to get a smile out of him," Makena said, blotting her lipstick on a tissue.

"Don't," Nyota said. "It's not fair to bait him like that."

"What, are you gunning for Dad's job?"

"Just don't."

"I'm sure he doesn't get embarrassed."

"But you want him to smile?"

"No, I want him to fuck me."

Nyota knew she didn't mean it, not really.

"What about Ahmet?" she asked. Her mouth still felt funny without braces and his name felt nice to say. _Ahmet. Ahmet_.

Makena adjusted her bra and glared at her sister.

"Spock's bonded."

"Whatever. It's not like they're married. And he's hot." She pulled her hair up and admired herself in the mirror. "Don't tell."

Nyota lay awake in the dark, counting Romulan phonemes. When Makena slipped back into their room, the light from the hall in the diplomatic quarters was bright behind her for a moment before the door closed.

"So how'd that go? Get what you wanted from Spock?"

"Shut up."

* * *

"I won't tell," she said, years later when she found him sitting on the porch of his parent's house, the dust still settling in T'Pring's wake. Nyota wasn't supposed to have heard any of that, but it was hard in such a quiet place, none of bustle of home in this house high in the hills.

"Tell what?" Spock asked, rising and looking down at her. He was tall, but she had grown too, her legs longer and slimmer than Makena's. Spock still slouched a little, like Kamau did, as if his new height was still an uncertainty. He wasn't so different than the boys at home, she thought, bluster and bravado hidden under his cool features.

Phillip had said _don't tell_, his soft, blonde hair falling around his forehead as he looked down at her, his forearms braced on either side of her shoulders. It was, in the end, the wrong words, and Nyota pushed him off before he could finish pushing into her.

"Tease," had been his next words, but she shrugged and pulled her shorts back up.

"Don't tell. Really." He put his hand on the doorknob to stop her leaving, the steady blare of music from downstairs beating against them and he looked a little shy, a little scared. "I don't want anyone to know that we didn't-"

"Oh, please," she snapped, pushing past him, the feelings she had for him left behind as she rejoined her friends.

Nyota had heard Spock and T'Pring's words, and their silences, and as the other woman walked out, Nyota had seen Spock's hand rise to his forehead and T'Pring's disdainful air.

"That you're upset," Nyota said and he looked at her hard for a moment, before leaving her alone under the mid-day sun.

* * *

Makena did Nyota's hair carefully, drawing it up out of her face and letting the heavy braid fall down her back. "Gorgeous," she declared. "I wish I hadn't chopped all mine off."

"I wish I had. It's so hot here."

"I wonder if Gabriel likes braids," Makena sighed.

"Don't pull out his picture again. I'm going to throw up."

Nyota pulled a shirt and shorts over her swimsuit while Makena covered hers with a sundress. They walked into the hall where Spock was already waiting for him.

"Too bad Kamau isn't here," Nyota said, taking the towel Spock handed her. "He always talked about seeing the pools after the spring rains."

"He's got his engines, or whatever. The coils." Makena waved dismissively as they headed towards the flitter, Spock climbing in the driver seat. Makena buckled her safety belt and plugged her comm into the console, music rising from the speakers.

"That's horrible," Nyota said, leaning forward from the backseat to snatch the comm. "Let me put on something that doesn't sound like dying whales."

"The whales are all dead, dummy. And I like 2190s music. It's catchy."

"It lacks tonal sophistication," Spock said coolly, sitting still as Makena glared at both of them. It was the most Nyota had heard him speak all day.

The comm chimed in Nyota's hand and she flipped it open before Makena could grab it. "Someone's got a call. He most be love struck, since we're going home tomorrow," she teased. "Hi Gabe. "

"Give that to me," Makena hissed. Nyota leaned further away and batted at her sister's hands.

"Oh, she's busy, we're having sister bonding time today. Yeah, we're going swimming with a friend of ours." Nyota grinned at her. "Definitely can't talk."

Spock raised an eyebrow as Makena reached for Nyota again. "Oh, you have subspace credits? Yeah, I'll be sure to let her know that you could have video chatted. I'm sure she'll be sorry to have missed you."

Makena took off her safety belt and half climbed in the backseat before she could pin Nyota and grab the comm.

"Gabe! Hi!" She gave Nyota a look completely at odds with the brightness of her voice. "Yeah, I'm here. Ny's being a- Oh! A video chat. Yeah, I'm home alone."

"That's horrible!" Nyota hissed. "It's not even your house!"

"Go without me," Makena mouthed, climbing out of the flitter and bouncing back up the steps to the front door, her laughter ringing behind her.

"She- she…" Nyota didn't know what she was going to say, so fell silent as she slid into Makena's empty seat. "Let's get out of here before we hear anything else."

Nyota watched the desert fly by them as they headed towards the distant mountains. Spock had spoken less the last few times she had seen him, but he was unnaturally silent that afternoon and Nyota flipped through the radio stations for a distraction.

"I didn't know that Vulcans went swimming," she tried, finally. It would have been easier with Makena there, even with her incessant chatter about her new boyfriend.

"It is not common," Spock said.

"Oh." She looked out the window again. "I guess that there's not much water around here," she said, which sounded stupid even to her, and he didn't respond, for which she was grateful.

"Will it be crowded?" she asked after a few quiet minutes.

"Most Vulcans have resumed school and work after the rains have passed."

Nyota nodded. She knew that, actually, and wished she hadn't asked. Spock was only free because orientation at Starfleet Academy hadn't started yet. Kamau was in San Francisco, taking classes over the break, and Spock would join him in a matter of days.

"Thanks for taking me," she said into the silence.

Nyota wanted to sigh, but she just pressed her lips together instead, staring out the window. She was nervous about leaving for college when she got back to Earth, and she didn't even have to go off planet and enter a new culture. She tried to imagine commiserating with Spock about that, but couldn't find the words, so she just flipped the radio dial again, thinking of what to say.

"I guess Vulcan couples don't have the distance problems human ones do," she blurted before she could stop herself. "You know. Like Makena and Gabe."

"I suppose not," Spock said. He turned them from the main road onto a dirt track that twisted into the foothills and Nyota watched the occasional shrubby bushes give way to rock piles.

"Well that's good for you and T'Pring," she said, trying to sound cheerful. She didn't really know how bonds worked, but imagined it must be nice to share something with someone so far away.

Spock didn't say anything as he maneuvered the winding road, nosing slowly around a few blind corners. The terrain grew steeper, the rock walls around them occasionally opening onto views of valleys. The bottom of the canyons had small green plants, though she couldn't identify them.

"It'd be nice to have a friend at Starfleet, even if she's not really there," Nyota said, pulling her face back from the window to look at him.

His hands tightened on the controls and she felt the flitter speed up slightly. "We are not bonded," he said sharply. His voice softened as he glanced at her open mouth. "Any more."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"_Nam-tor ri thrap wilat nem-tor rim_," Spock said. "There is no offense where none is taken."

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"As I said, you do not need to apologize for your earlier assertion."

"No," she reached for him, unthinking, then drew her hand back. "I'm sorry that that happened. That must be really hard."

"It is not uncommon," he said, turning the flitter around a corner with less than his normal skill.

"It doesn't matter if it's common or not. Humans break up all the time. Look at Makena. That doesn't make it easier," she said. She turned down the radio and shifted to face him. "Would you like to talk about it?" She didn't think that many Vulcans spoke of such things, but maybe Lady Amanda… No, Nyota couldn't imagine Spock being comforted by anyone and wasn't surprised when he shook his head.

She picked at her nails, scrapping at a bit of polish that was already chipping. She watched the road grow narrower still, and Spock slowed to almost a crawl before pulling the flitter over and engaging the break.

"We must continue on foot," he said. "It is not far."

She followed him down the path, turning their conversation over in her head. It was hot and sweat dripped down her back as they walked. She was so distracted by her thoughts and the heat she nearly bumped into him when he came to an abrupt stop.

"The rains often bring landslides," Spock said and Nyota looked at the pile of rocks. "It is just on the other side."

He climbed lightly to the top of the mound and to her surprise, reached back a hand to help her. He was strong, she thought dimly, as he easily pulled her up. It wasn't until they scrambled down the other side that she realized how quiet his mind had been.

The pool was bright and clear, deep enough the bottom was distorted by the water's refraction. She dropped her towel and toed off her shoes.

"It is beautiful," she said, admiring the way the red and gold rocks framed the water. "It's only like this for a few weeks?"

"Or less. The pools drain into the canyons we drove through."

"They must evaporate quickly as well," she said, pulling up the hem of her shirt to wipe her face. Spock was silent and when she glanced up, she caught him looking at her exposed stomach. She grinned at him. When she pulled off her t-shirt and shorts, Spock looked away quickly.

He was scrawny, she thought as he dropped his own shirt. Skinny but maybe in a nice sort of way.

She slid down the rocks towards the pool, bracing herself carefully as she dipped her foot in the clear water. It wasn't too cold and she slipped in, the water cool and refreshing.

Spock dove in from the top of the rocks, a practiced movement that made her wonder how often he came here. He stroked quickly to the other side of the pool before pushing off the far rocks and swimming back.

Nyota ducked under the water, opening her eyes to the clear world underneath the surface and admired the way bubbles surrounded Spock as he swam. When she came up for air, she pushed wet hair back from her face and tossed her braid back over her shoulder.

"This is great," she said, treading water and wiping her eyes. She floated on her back, her eyes closed against the sun as Spock swam close to her.

It was easier to talk to him like this, with the warm light on her face and no need to look at him.

"Spock? Is Starfleet why you and your father were fighting last night?"

Her ears were mostly submerged but she heard his movements stop.

"I did not think that you would be aware of that," he said at last.

It was enough of an answer for her and she drifted for a long moment, listening to the movements of the water around her.

"I'm sorry about T'Pring," she said at last, wanting him to know she meant it. "You don't have to say anything. I'm just sorry it didn't work out."

When she turned to look over at him, he was closer than she expected, his eyes dark.

"I do not believe we were well suited for each other," he said softly.

Nyota wanted to ask what it was like without her, if it was quiet in his mind now, if he missed her. She thought back to his earlier silences, his terse words, and thought that maybe she knew.

"I bet you'll love Starfleet. Kamau can't stop talking about." She treaded water, facing him, and trailed her fingers across the surface, sending ripples across the pool. "And the girls. He can't stop talking about the girls."

She smiled at him and was pretty sure he blushed before his expression became carefully blank again.

"You going to be asking Terran girls on dates?" she teased, since he looked nice when he was flushed and she preferred that to his stony silences earlier.

"Doubtful," he frowned.

"Oh, they'll be all over you," she splashed her fingers through the water, smiling when he drew back from the droplets. "Makena used to have a massive crush on you."

"That seems highly unlikely," Spock said, still frowning.

"She just doesn't understand you very well," Nyota said, floating on her back again. "You're an enigma. But she always thought you were cute."

"Fascinating."

She suddenly didn't want to talk about her sister anymore and fell silent.

"I do not think that many understand me particularly well," Spock said after a long silence.

"And people say Vulcans aren't perceptive," she said. "You'll find someone else, probably a million times better than T'Pring."

"I do not believe I understand the mathematical soundness of your assertion," he said and she laughed.

They stayed in the water until Nyota's hands began to prune. She told him about the Institute for Advanced Mathematics, chatting about the courses she was taking and her intended major. He said little, but listened attentively as they drifted in the pool.

"It'll be really interesting, I think," she said, holding onto a rock as she grew tired of treading water. "And I think I'll still be able to study Benzian. And maybe Russian. Their alphabet is so interesting."

"There are excellent Russian chess players," Spock said. "I played against one who is little more than a child."

"Did he beat you?" Nyota grinned.

Spock looked at her coolly. "No."

It had been easier to slide in than it was to climb out. Spock managed skillfully, and Nyota watched the muscles in his back flex as he lifted himself onto a large rock.

"Spock, give me a hand," she said, after failing to pull herself up twice. He knelt and grabbed for her, helping lift her until her feet found solid rock. He held on to her hand as she rose to her feet beside him, water cascading off them both and pooling on the rocks under them. She felt the heat from sun start to dry her skin and the press of warmth coming off his body in waves.

All at once, as her fingers shifted slightly on his, she could feel the cool air from her body near his, and saw the water dripping from her hair, her shoulders, between her breasts, and down her body as he watched it.

He dropped her hand as if burned and jerked his gaze from her.

"I apologize," he said stiffly. "I am not used to touching others. I do not have much practice…I do not have any experience with… humans." His voice was very low.

"I didn't mean to impose," she said softly.

"It was improper," he said to his feet.

"_Nam-tor ri thrap wilat nem-tor rim_," she said, echoing his words from earlier. "There is no offense where none is taken."

"_Lafosh,_" he said. "It was a mistake. I apologize."

The Vulcan words pulled at something inside of her, something that had been stirred from the brush of his mind on hers.

"We should go back," she said softly, watching water drip from his wet hair.

"Indeed," he said. She could hear him breathe a bit faster than normal.

"Are you curious?" she asked, realizing how close he was to her.

"In regards to what assertion?" The sun shone on drops caught on his flat stomach.

She swallowed. "About humans?"

Water beaded on his pale shoulders and a drop slid over his bicep.

"Yes," he whispered and she watched herself put out her finger to catch the drop.

His skin was hotter than the heat from the sun and his eyes slid shut as she traced her finger up, over his collarbone. She spread her hand on the back of his neck, drawing him closer. Her stomach twisted, dark and primal, and she moved towards him as if pulled.

He shifted so their bodies were almost touching. She raised her other hand and brushed her fingers over his. He slowly turned his hand over, pressing the pads of their fingers together, and Nyota felt a flush of heat run straight through her.

He opened his eyes, looked down at her hand in his, and swallowed as his gaze drifted back up her body to meet hers. A pounding impatience ran through their fingers towards each other they leaned forward and kissed.

She felt a deep ache inside of him, one that made her run her hand over his shoulders, through his wet hair and step forward so she could press against him. His characteristic grace was nearly gone as they backed up towards the pile of towels, but he lowered her gently down, one hand on her waist, the other never leaving her fingers he leaned over her. She kissed him again, closing her eyes against the pressure of his mouth and the slick slide of his tongue. His hand was on her thigh, her arm, her hip, dragging her up against his body as her knee dropped to the side, allowing him to press more fully against her.

Something unintelligible left her mouth when he dropped her hand and pulled away, but he brought his hands to her back and she felt him tug at the knot of her swimsuit.

"Is this acceptable?" he asked against her neck, then again, softer, pulling back to meet her eyes. "Is this admissible?" His voice was quiet and his eyes were gentle, even as their bodies strained against each other.

"Oh, god, yes," she said into his mouth and he resumed unknotting her top. He pulled it off easily, his hands going to her breasts and she arched against him, digging her nails into his shoulders. She gripped his slim waist with her knees and rocked her hips against him until his mouth fell open and he pushed back, the material between them a hindrance.

"Please," he said, dropping his hands to grip her waist, stilling her. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, some of the frantic energy leaving his frame. He was so still he didn't seem to notice her dragging her nails down his wet back, until she scraped them under the edge of his trunks, the skin of his waist soft under her hands. He shivered and his hips jerked once, before she could push the material down.

She removed the rest of her bathing suit as well, the rocks hot against her skin through the towels, and his skin hot against hers as she raised her knees to his sides and gripped the back of his neck.

His hands swept over her hips, her stomach, before one drifted lower, slicking against the wetness between her legs. She pushed her head back as he touched her, his mouth on her neck, her jaw, her ear. She gasped when he pushed a finger into her, exploring her gently as she squirmed under him.

She grabbed at his waist, slipping her own hand down and taking him, hard and hot, stroking his length. His mouth left her throat at the motion and his fingers against her turned clumsy.

He pulled on her thigh, drawing her leg up higher as he shifted towards her, his fingers slipping out of her. He gently grasped her wrist to stop her hand against him.

"Please," he said again, and she nodded, thinking he was asking for permission. But he gestured towards her face and she realized it was permission of a different sort.

He was panting lightly when she nodded again and he pressed his fingers to her face in a pattern she had seen from other Vulcans. At once, she saw and felt herself cool against him, the sun on his back, those sensations joining with the hard scrape of rocks under her and a shared anticipation arching between them.

She groaned when he pushed into her and she felt his breath catch as he began to move. "Don't stop," she whispered. _Please_, she thought, and he thrust again, gently, as she relaxed into his movements. "_Weh-sahris_," she said into his neck. "More. Faster."

The plunge of his body into hers grew slicker and harder as their minds opened, and she felt him carefully shift through her thoughts for a moment, making sure she was ok, before retreating again.

She felt the heat in his body grow brighter, his muscles tensing as they bunched under her hands.

"Fuck," she said, white lights bursting behind her eyelids and her toes curling against his hips. She felt her back lift off the ground even as she felt the echo of her movements in his mind, her body tight and thrumming. _Don't stop_, she thought, and felt a vague notion of acquiescence as his hips pounded harder into her. She felt his orgasm flood through her mind in response to her own, hot and white, as he stiffened. She gasped against his shoulder as he shook slightly, her own body slowly relaxing.

They were still for a moment, before he pulled his hand from her face and she opened her eyes to see him flushed above her. She blinked for a moment against the sudden stillness of her thoughts, coming back to her body as her heart still pounded.

She knew a dozen languages, but she didn't know what to say to him. He was silent as well, slipping out of her, his shoulders still heaving as he caught his breath.

"We should go back," she finally whispered, her mouth dry. "Before someone misses us."

"Indeed."

She sat up then, reaching for her still damp bathing suit that lay in a tangle. "I don't think we should tell anyone," she said after a long moment.

He was already dressed, already looking like a consummate Vulcan and she hurried to pull her clothes on.

"I agree."

Nyota thought back to her subspace physics class during dinner that night, wondering if the space-time continuum had shifted to drag the meal out interminably.

"The house will be so empty without you all," Lady Amanda said as they ate _pok tar_. "It's always such a pleasure to have you all, ever since you were little. You'll have to give your best to Kamau, since we missed him so."

"We will," Alhamisi said. "He was sorry to miss it, though Spock will see him soon enough."

Neither Sarek nor Spock looked up from where they ate in silence.

"It's so exciting to think of the boys off on adventures together," M'Umbha said. "And Nyota is off to college. All grown up." Her mother smiled and her and squeezed her hand and Nyota swallowed against the lump of _fori_ in her throat. "I'll miss traveling with them all. Remember on Andor when Kamau and Spock rewired the subspace communicator to pick up the World Cup? I never thought a game of soccer would nearly create a diplomatic incident."

"Soccer is often a diplomatic incident," Alhamisi replied. "And that wasn't as bad as when Makena and Nyota wandered off on Argelius II and ate all the chocolate we had brought as a gift."

"I've never been so sick," Makena groaned at the memory, pushing away the last of her food. "Totally worth it, though."

"Your mother made you both explain what happened to the envoy. I'll never forget that, you with your pigtails," Alhamisi said, smiling fondly at Nyota, "facing down a room of Ambassadors with chocolate all over yourself. True diplomat's children."

"It is only in the reflection of other cultures that we better understand our own," Sarek said and Spock briefly glanced up at him. "_Ma etek natyan teretuhr lau etek shetau weh-lo'uk do tum t'on_. We have differences. May we, together, become greater than the sum of both of us."

Nyota counted the syllables of Surak's phrase in her head even as she remembered the thrill of speaking to the diplomats. She had learned a few words of Argellian before her parents had sent her off to bed, still slightly queasy from her and Makena's escapades.

"Ah, that is the hope," her father said, leaning back in his chair. "Though we all at some point make some sort of interspecies snafu. Remember when I assumed the Barisians could drink water? And they all went into anaphylactic shock?"

"That was distressing," Sarek said evenly. "Biological differences are often problematic."

"Good thing Nyota and Makena were the ones in the chocolate," Lady Amanda said with a small smile and Nyota's parents laughed.

Spock began stacking their plates and silverware as they finished their meal and Makena and Nyota joined him as their parents settled into a long discussion on Argellian trade agreements. Makena was humming quietly as she put dishes in the sanitizer and Nyota busied herself placing the leftover food in the stasis unit.

"We won't see you in the morning, Spock," Makena said, breaking through the silence in the kitchen. "We're leaving really early since Dad has a meeting in San Francisco he has to get back for."

Spock didn't say anything, just carefully wiped the counter in even strokes.

"Good luck at the Academy," she said and Spock frowned. "I bet you'll love it."

The words echoed against Nyota's from the afternoon and she focused on scraping the last of the _mashya_ into a bowl. A comm lying on the counter chimed and Makena leapt towards it.

"Hi! I didn't think you'd call again," she said, catching Nyota's eye and motioning to the hallway as she backed out of the kitchen.

"Stop!" Nyota hissed, but Makena was gone in a flash, and Nyota could hear the door to the room they shared slide shut.

Nyota carefully returned her gaze to the plates before her, opening the stasis unit and arranging them neatly inside. She heard Spock run the dishrag through the sanitizer, then shut off the machine as she fussed with the containers, trying to get them to fit the way she wanted.

"Nyota," he said. "I believe I should have explained, before-"

"It's fine." She stood up quickly, shutting the unit and wiping her hands on a towel. "You asked. I said yes."

"_K'war'ma'khon_," he said quietly to his feet. "It is way in which Vulcans are bonded to each other, which makes-" he swallowed, "-telepathic linking more admissible. Only on further reflection do I perhaps better understand that differences between you and I. It is an intimacy that Vulcans experience often with each other and it was perhaps inappropriate to ask you to share in that. I understand if you are upset." He swallowed again. "With me."

"I'm sure you don't always share it like that," she tried to joke, but it came out flat. "I'm not upset, Spock." He looked at the wall somewhere over her shoulder. "I don't think either of us were making particularly good decisions. Consider it a cross-cultural learning experience for us both. _ Nam-tor ri thrap wilat nem-tor rim_."

The tension dropped from his shoulders slightly.

"_Th'i-oxalra_.Thank you," he said, meeting her eyes. "As Makena said, I will not see you in the morning before you leave."

"Tell Kamau hi," Nyota said. "And good luck at Starfleet."

"Luck is illogical," Spock said softly and Nyota nodded.

"I know."

He looked at her for a long moment. "Good luck at college," he offered, before holding up his hand in the _ta'al_. "_Dif-tor heh smusma_. Live long and prosper."

"_Sochya eh dif_," she replied. "Peace and long life."

* * *

Gaila's eyes were shining when Nyota finished speaking.

"He sounds sweet."

"Sweet?" Nyota thought back. "I suppose. He's Vulcan, though. I don't think sweet is a word generally used to describe them."

"I bet he's had sex with most of the women at Starfleet. Some of the men, too, if swings his baseball club for that team."

"Bats for that team. I don't think he does."

"He's leaving soon?"

"Don't even think about it, Gaila. We need a new rule: no sharing sexual partners."

"That won't leave you with much to work with. Also, I gave Barrett a…" Gaila gestured with her hand. "What do you call it?"

Nyota sighed. "No sharing sexual partners, at all. No sex in the room. No alarm clocks on weekend mornings. And no telling anyone what I told you tonight."

"I'd never pour legumes from their proper container, even as an accident," Gaila said seriously. "And I'm worried about your sex life, so I will attempt to not have physical relations with some small subset of human males here. For you. This will be difficult."

"I appreciate it," Nyota said. "And please leave me some cute ones. I have a formative sexual experience to recover from, even after all these years, and it may take a few cadets to be able to work with Spock professionally again."


	5. Chapter 4

Advanced Vulcan came easily. The rest of her courses did not.

She was an excellent student, who produced excellent work, and had excellent study habits. This had resulted in excellent grades at her excellent university.

She threw her stylus at the wall, took a deep breath, and picked it up.

_Beginning Subspace Physics: A Case Study on Popular Mechanical Theories_ she wrote at the top of the padd before adding her name and the stardate.

She paused. She looked at her notes. She looked at the padd. She looked at her notes again. She contemplated throwing the stylus, simply because it felt good the first time, then shook her head, took another deep breath, and got to work.

…

Their weekends were precious. She took Gaila dancing, out to clubs and bars full of sweet drinks they both loved, and pounding, thrumming music that reminded Nyota of nights with her sister, nights with her friends from college. Gaila took her to places Nyota would never have dreamed of going with a wide eyed excitement she envied. They walked through twisting alleys that had nothing in them besides some stray cats and garbage, sat on the docks to look at seagulls for hours, loitered in the transportation center where Gaila happily watched shuttles come and go, the lines ever shifting for the transporter pad.

"We have homework," Nyota pointed out on one such afternoon, her feet and stomach aching in equal measure.

"We have three more ice cream shops on my list."

"This isn't healthy."

"Doing that much schoolwork isn't healthy." Gaila threw her head back, grinning at the sky, arms held wide. "We're in Starfleet. We're explorers. Now hurry up and decide what flavor you want."

…

"Robau Memorial Scholarship Award," Gaila read, trailing her fingers along the edge of the trophy case. "K'Bentayr Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. Bet you get that one someday."

"Thanks." Nyota paused, looking closer at the plaque. "Looks like Spock already did."

"And this one, too." Gaila pointed at the Cochrane Medal of Excellence. "Wonder what 'outstanding contribution or performance in the physical sciences or advanced engineering' he did."

"No idea."

"Carrington Award for excellence in the field of medicine, Chakarian Grant for studies in the applied sciences, Koeppel Grant for recognition of contributing to Starfleet's understanding of alien life forms."

"I hear you've understood a few alien life forms since we got here."

"Yep." Gaila grinned. "And I had fun doing it."

"There's so much to do here," Nyota breathed, looking at the shelves of trophies.

"There's so many species to do here," Gaila corrected, still smiling. "Guess we both have to get a move on."

Nyota laughed, knowing Gaila's scores in her engineering courses nearly outpaced her own in communications, knowing that neither of them were exactly hurting for dates, knowing that there was a good chance they would stand here after their years at the Academy, after graduation, adding their own names to Starfleet's history.

…

The first paper Nyota turned in, a short one that was a small amount of her grade, was not perfect. She liked perfect. She rewrote it, then rewrote it again.

The first quiz she took, she got the top score in her class. She studied the rubric on her way home, since she had still missed two answers. By the time she opened the door to her room, she had realized what she had done wrong.

Looking up, seeing Gaila and someone who she thought might be a third year engineering cadet, or maybe security, in a naked tangle, she decided that more time in the library couldn't hurt anyone.

…

Her father called after midterms, after Nyota had slept for eleven hours and gone for a long run, working out the kinks and strains of tests and papers.

"See?" She held up the padd Gaila had left for her before her last exam. "Get it? She drew wings all over a rainbow."

She watched her father lean his chin on his hand, a gesture so familiar Nyota had to swallow against the sudden pang of homesickness.

"Hmmm."

"Flying colors, Dad. I told her I hoped I passed with flying colors and she loved the phrase."

Her father chuckled, deep and rumbling, and Nyota grinned back.

"I'm glad you have a good friend there," he said, and she nodded. "You brother and his roommate. Spock and _his_ roommate."

"They didn't get along?"

"Andorian."

"That sounds horrible." Nyota frowned, imagining Spock rooming with someone from an ice planet. Her frown deepened. "How did you know that?"

"I used to see him when I went to visit you brother, of course." Her father straightened, smiling suddenly. "Now, let me tell you about the fact you can never get married because of this wedding your sister is planning."

"Dad…"

"I'm serious. You'll have to be my little girl forever, since my heart can't take another round of this."

"I'll always be your little girl. Though I did learn how to dissemble and rebuild a phaser in under 90 seconds this week."

Her father sighed. "Well, I guess that will at least come in handy if this goes on much longer."

"The wedding isn't for ages."

"Exactly."

…

She went to class, every day. She went running most days. She went on dates occasionally, preferring her nights with Gaila, with the slowly growing group of friends they made.

"Maybe," she yelled over the thumping music of the club when Cadet Jennings asked if she wanted to get dinner sometime. She looked at him again, his tall, lean form and dark hair. And he could _dance_. "Sure," she shouted over the heavy beat. "How bout a drink now?"

It was… nice. But she had her studies and they were far more interesting than his blue eyes, even if he did have nice shoulders and decent grades.

"You have strange standards," Gaila yawned when Nyota finally got home. "But let me tell you, mine have changed. Risian. You have no idea. I met one after you left with Jennings."

Nyota crawled into bed with her clothes on, kicking off her boots. "You can tell me but I'm going to be out cold two seconds."

"Do you need another blanket?"

"What?" She yawned so wide her jaw hurt.

"If you're cold."

"I'm not cold."

"But you said you were going to be cold."

Nyota blinked, her eyes heavy. "The room's really warm, actually."

"I know." She opened her eyes long enough to see Gaila frowning. "For a communications cadet, you're not very good at saying what you mean."

…

Some days dragged, interminable, the seconds of each class felt in full, as she filled her padd with line after line of foreign languages until her head swam.

Some days crashed by at an unrelenting pace, so that the time between pulling her boots on in the morning, yawning, was indistinguishable from toeing them off in the evening, yawning again, eyeing the textbooks on her desk.

The weeks between midterms and finals dragged, the thought of a break, no matter how short it was between the semesters pulling her forward, even as the amount of work she had to complete before then made her want to slow down the clock.

She hardly slept, hardly ate during the rounds of exams she completed, coming out the other side with a sort of awed astonishment that it was over as she left her final test.

Done, she though. Three and a half years to go.

…

When she got to the bar, it was jammed and crowded and hot.

She had not been surprised when Kamau messaged her, the name and address of the establishment flashing across her comm. She had heard his ship was in the Sol System and after even a few months off planet, many of the crew were able to put in for shore leave.

She was surprised when he brought along a very pretty, very blonde Ensign.

She extracted herself from his tight, crushing hug, and held out her hand.

"Nyota," she said with a smile.

"Annette. It's so nice to meet you."

"You as well," she said, wondering if she was supposed to have known about her, and not wanting to give the wrong impression that Kamau had never brought her up. "How's the _Eisenhower_?"

"Nothing compared to the rumors about the _Enterprise_," Kamau sighed, signaling the bartender and receiving three frosty drinks. "I heard the initial building has begun in Iowa of all places."

"Iowa?" Nyota accepted the glass from her brother. "Really?"

"None for me, thanks," Annette said quickly, shaking her head when Kamau tried to hand over a drink. "I'm not feeling well."

"Sweetie," he frowned, touching her shoulder. "Still? You were up and working today before we beamed down."

"Comes and goes," the other woman said lightly. "I hear you're studying communications?"

"Yes." Nyota took a sip of her drink, enjoying the slight fizz and sweet taste. She glanced at Annette's yellow command uniform. "What were you working on today?"

"Oh, Kamau didn't tell you? I'm a pilot. I was completing some training simulations so I can qualify for alpha shift at some point."

Nyota smiled quickly, darting a glance at her brother. "Being on the bridge must be exciting, and getting to fly, too. I bet you have done all sorts of interesting shuttle runs," she said quickly, trying to avoid another comment that would reveal she had no knowledge of this woman.

They spoke at length about the trips Annette had taken, and she and Kamau listened good naturedly to Nyota's account of her first semester, nodding and groaning at all the appropriate places.

"It gets easier," Kamau offered, finishing half of Annette's drink. "Just wait till you're done with the coursework and can move onto the actual training."

"Drill after drill after drill," Annette said with a nod. "And are you planning on doing a rotation on a ship? You should look into the _Eisenhower_ if you do. Captain Abbot is wonderful."

"He might transfer to the _Bradbury_," Kamau said. "You could apply to the _Lexington_. Spock says Captain April and Commander Pike are amazing to work for."

"He said that?" Nyota asked with a grin. "How do you even know that?"

"We talk all the time. Well, all the time for him, which is more like very occasionally. And I think his phrase was sufficiently satisfactory to work for. But ask him yourself. He's teaching here next semester."

"He is?"

"I know, the idea of him teaching, right? Remind him about the time I smoked him in basketball before he grew twelve centimeters and could bench press me."

"I just… didn't he just receive that posting on the _Lexington_?"

Kamau shrugged. "Something about them shuffling crew around. Pike is coming back to start up a new recruitment drive, and a lot of senior officers are being moved around. Rumor has it, it's because of our brand new, gorgeous, state of the line flagship, of which Pike might just be captain of."

"The Starfleet grapevine," Annette sighed.

Kamau nodded. "Speaking of which, let's talk about this Jennings character."

"_What_?"

"No secrets." Annette sighed again.

"We all have it splashed out there, eventually. Like the gregarious stories about me and a completely appropriate number of women, not to high, not too low, all of who didn't hold a candle to you, my dear."

"Thanks."

"I'm serious. There were even rumors about Spock by the time I graduated, and he is pretty damn reclusive."

"I'm sure they weren't true," Nyota said, taking a quick drink.

"Not what I heard." Kamau shrugged. "Another round?"

"Sure." She turned to Annette. "If you're feeling ok."

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine."

"That's my girl," Kamau said with a grin, throwing an arm over her shoulders and tugging her close. "Threw up every morning for days and is now at the bar. Sure you don't want something?"

"I really shouldn't." She smiled weakly. "No alcohol for me."

Nyota frowned, looking between the two of them.

"So. Jennings. Tell me."

"Not even a date, Kamau," she said, still eyeing Annette curiously.

"Nobody's good enough for you. That's what Makena always says. You're so picky."

"I am not."

"Whatever. You need a gorgeous, polite, genius who wants to hear about your classes all day and loves his mom."

"Thanks for the endorsement," she said, smacking his arm. "And let me know if you meet any of them."

…

**I don't know why that was so hard to write, or why it took so long. I think because I just wanted to get to the other side of her first semester and didn't really know how to do that. So sorry if it seems rushed or cursory, but maybe I'll go back and fill in a bit more if the mood ever strikes.**

**More to come, hopefully in a more timely manner.**


End file.
